Sipnet, a Russian VoIP service provider, reached a 52% share of the Russian VoIP market in 2010 in value, according to J’son & Partners, a telecom market research and financial consulting firm operating in Eastern Europe. Skype held second place in Russia with a 32% market share. The total market size for VoIP doubled since 2010 and is now estimated to be $29.2 million.
“The number of users of P2P networks like Sipnet and Skype has increased 82% and now equals 11.3 million people,” Russian business daily Vedomosti quoted Vitaly Solonin of J’son & Partners as saying.
“Skype is the undisputed leader in P2P, serving 70% of VoIP users, while Sipnet is used by only 13% of customers (1.5 million people),” Solonin added. However, Sipnet’s user base is mostly corporate clients, which is why the average income per person for Sipnet users is higher than for Skype. During Q1 2011, Sipnet’s average revenue per user was around $60, while Skype average worldwide figure didn’t exceed $0.11, according to Solonin.
Sipnet is not the only VoIP operator doing better than Skype in terms of ARPU. Rebtel, a Stockholm-based company which claims to be the world’s second largest VoIP company after Skype with its 13 million users, announced earlier this year that its ARPU reached $4.00 in 2010.
